1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for automatically attaching data cards to respectively associated mailer forms and especially to a system which receives information from a common data source for embossing and/or encoding a magnetic stripe on the data cards and for printing the mailer forms with corresponding information. The system controls the subsequent processing and handling of cards and forms to assure that the cards are attached to their properly corresponding, respectively associated forms.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There exist, in the prior art, systems for automatically matching embossed data cards with pre-printed mailer forms and for attaching the data cards to their matching, respectively associated pre-printed mailer forms. One such prior art system is manufactured and sold under the trademark "DATA-MATCH" by Data Card Corporation, assignee of the present application, and affords highly reliable, high speed operation. The system includes an optical character reader for reading the pre-printed forms and an embossed character reader (ECR) or a magnetic stripe reader for reading data correspondingly embossed or encoded on the data card. The two sets of data thus read are then compared to verify that a match exists. When the requisite number of correctly matched cards for a given form is available, they are simultaneously attached to that form.
Prior art systems of the type of the "DATA-MATCH" inserter are designed to function as independent systems, implying that separate apparatus is employed to emboss/encode the credit cards and to print the mailers, prior to the supply of the mailer forms and data cards to the DATA-MATCH inserter. These independent operations introduce the potential of errors particularly as to mis-matching of cards and forms. For example, if a card is lost or if cards are out of sequence in the supply thereof relative to the corresponding sequence of the pre-printed mailer forms, a mismatch error will be detected by the system; moreover, if any mailer form is printed imperfectly such that it is not readable by the DATA-MATCH inserter or is incorrectly read, or should other defects exist whether in reading or transporting the form, an error condition will occur. The DATA-MATCH inserter permits operator intervention to correct for the circumstance of an erroneous machine detection of a mis-match condition (e.g., a form is correct but has been misread by the system resulting in an erroneous mismatch error condition). However, where either the form or a required card therefor is in fact defective, or a card is missing, there is no recovery capability in the sense that the imperfect form and any associated cards must be rejected, since replacements are not readily available.
There is therefore a need in the industry for a system which automates the totality of involved functions, namely the embossing and/or encoding of the data cards as well as the printing of the forms and the attachment of the appropriate number of correctly matching cards to the respectively associated forms. Moreover, there is a need in the industry for a system which permits recovery of operations when an error condition occurs. By way of example, in a system which combines and automates all of the requisite functions as above described, reprinting of defective forms or re-embossing of defective cards can be achieved such that, where normal automated processing results in rejects of either forms or cards, the system can print substitute or replacement forms or produce substitute or replacement cards, as required, such that at the end of a run, all cards and forms have been successfully generated and assembled. There is also a need for a low-cost such system, suitable for use by low-volume issuers of credit cards and thus one which, while not having the speed of operation of the DATA-MATCH inserter, nevertheless is available in a less complex mechanism and at lower cost for such lower-volume card issuers.